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Gabriella Kerr
P/J 241
Not being a classically trained music teacher, how can I teach music theory in an accessible and
practical way for myself as well as for my students?
How can I engage students in the study music and increase intrinsic motivation?
How can I integrate technology into my music practice?
Teaching Towards Musical Understanding I found help for addressing the concerns of my first two
inquiry questions. Towards the concern of teaching music theory the course text had numerous entry
points for myself as a novice teacher. The definitions, and explanations were particularly useful. The
activities especially the emphasis on combining movement and music instruction in Chapter 8: Moving
with Music, presented fun ways to engage students, especially kinesthetic learners. Children and
movement are natural partners, wrote Montgomery, I found this assertion both true and very freeing
as I began to think on ways I would engage students and teach theory in music (Montgomery, 2002, p.
152). Looking back on my own experience with music theory as I child, I do wish that music instruction
had been approached in a manner similar to what is outlined in our course reading.
We also had number of assigned videos for our course. In terms of addressing student engagement and
integrating technology, the video of Chris Hadfield singing from space, could be a wonderful launching
point from which to pose big questions. How can music connect us around the world? How do we
broadcast from space? Such questions could create cross-curricular lessons and help interest students.
Research and Resources
Integrating Technology into Your Elementary Music Classroom, provides an honest and practical
example of how a novice teacher found ways to integrate technology into their class. The teacher began
at first with a negative view of technology but then began to see it as a tool to differentiate in her class.
The article provided numerous resources to add to the instructional repertoire of the elementary music
teacher. Among the resources listed in the article, the Harmonic Visions Music Ace Maestro computer
program seemed promising. One could do whole group instruction using some of the activities that are
in Montgomerys Handbook and then have students navigate through the Maestro software, which
would act to reinforce what they had been taught. Another technology resource that the writer
mentioned was a site hosted by the San Francisco Symphony. It allows students to play symphony
instruments and compose their own music. Though I am writing of lessons for students I feel that these
same resources and articles could be invaluable to teachers such as myself with limited musical
background. The second research paper I turned to in order to respond to my inquires, was a study that
looked at the exchange between preservice and in-service teachers with technology in their music
program. The study, Music Technology Partnerships: A Context for Music Teacher Preparation, discusses
some of the theories behind the implementation and conceptulization of technology within culture and
the classroom. The author argues that, students are becoming increasingly aware of the disconnect
between school and the real world where technology is common. Music Technology Partnerships,
provides a number of professional associations that can help me to become more informed about
teaching music and incorporating technology. Among the organizations that the article lists are the
Technology Institute for Music Educators (TI:ME) and the Association for Technology in Music Instruction
(ATMI). I also found a number of tablet apps that could be used to increase the learning and
engagement of students in music theory among my favourites were JoyTunes Recorder Master, which
can help kids learn the recorder, which is standard fair for many elementary classrooms. Another great
app is My Note Games, which teaches and allows students to practice music theory and note
recognition. These two apps are yet another way to include technology, increase student engagement
and help myself and my future students learn music theory.
References
Burns, A. (2006). Integrating technology into your elementary music classroom. General Music Today,
20(1), 6-10.
Greher, G. R. (2011). Music technology partnerships: A context for music teacher preparation. Arts
Education Policy Review, 112(3), 130-136.
Montgomery. A. (2002). Teaching Towards Musical Understanding: A handbook for elementary grades.
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.